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Transcript by Newsy: http://www.youtube.com/user/NewsyScience?feature=guide BY JASMINE BAILEY ANCHOR LAUREN GORES A new study suggests that a growing number of babies in the U.S. are being born dependent on prescription painkillers. Denver's KUSA reports. "Every hour, one baby in America is born addicted to drugs like painkillers. A study in the journal of American Medicine says the number of babies addicted to that class of drugs has nearly tripled in the past decade." According to Fox News — Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome or NAS has become an epidemic — and is also taking a toll on hospital finances. "...total hospital costs for NAS jumped from $190 million to $720 million per year from 2000 to 2009." Symptoms of NAS can be severe and according to CNN — the symptoms are similar to those experienced by adults. "They have a characteristic piercing cry, they're very jittery, irritable, sometimes they have seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty with feedings is also very common." Not only are there withdrawal symptoms for newborn babies, but according to ABC's 'Good Morning America' the fetus can also experience severe withdrawal symptoms. "If the mother tries to get off the drugs this can cause even more of a problem, the babies can have seizures in utero so you actually have to keep the mothers on a narcotic during the pregnancy for the safety of the baby."